Wall-board reenforcement



Sept. 18, 1928.

C- O. WALPER WALL BOARD REENFORCEMENT Filed Dec. 16, 1927 avwcnkn (fury 0m [Ha/062;

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attorney Patented Sept. 18, 1928 UNITED STATES CUB-BY ORA WALPER,'0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

WALL-BOARD REENFOBCEMEKT.

Application filed December 16, 1827, Serial No. 240,570.

In the finishing of plaster, wall or composition board constructions with plaster, it has been found very advantageous to utilize wire fabric of a woven, expanded or reticulated nature over the joints between boards or over those portions of the boards which overlie joists or studdings for the purpose of reenforcing the plastic coat in a manner preventing erackin of the coat which might m otherwise occur if the use of such wire fabric were not adopted, and examples of such use may be found in Letters Patents of the United States Nos. 1,448,886 and 1,461,590

granted to me March 20, 1923, and July 10, m 1923, respectively. The advantages and functions obtaining in the use of fabric n such manner is set forth to some extent in the specifications of said Letters Patent, and will not be dwelt upon herein.

The fabrics as utilized in such constructions are required, when applied, to be in the form of long narrow strips usually about three or four inches wide and several feet long, and it has been customary to cut them from sheets of fabric to the required dimensions, but the result although very satisfactory in its operation in a wall, has certain disadvantages in handling and use due to sharp or ragged edges which make the reenforce- .10 ment somewhat difficult and to a certain extent dangerous to handle in this form, and also due .to the fact that such unprotected edges in certain types of fabric are liable to result in certain entanglement between the edges of one piece of fabric and the meshes of another, thereby slowing up the speed with which the fabric may be utilized.

This invention therefore has for its object to provide for a specially constructed o strip which lends itself admirably to use in effecting strip reenforcement in the manner hereinbefore referred to, and which moreover -will have its edges finished in a manner maintaining them smooth and straight, or in such form of alignment in which they are required to be maintained, so that the hands of the workman will not be injured in applying the stri with a minimum of manipulation to I the wal or surface against which the fabric 50, is to be disposed.

' Still further, the said invention contemplates the provision of an improved form of strip of reticulated material for the said purposes which is adapted to be made, preferably sold and transported in definite widths other than the bending or the straightening sections will have at least t and usually indefinite len ths from which portions of required length may be cut by workmen to suit requirements and used without further preparation or manipulation 0 of the severed portions of the strip to the required form called for in any particular case.

Still further objects subsidiary to or resulting from the aforesaid objects, or from the construction or operation of the invention as it may be carried into effect, will become apparent as the said invention is hereinafter further disclosed.

In carrying the said invention into effect, I may utilize the novel construction and form of reenforcing strip provided as anew article of manufacture for the particular purposes hereinbefore specified and characterized by the features hereinafter described and illustrated, by way of example, having reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein- Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a plaster board, wall or ceiling, illustrating the use of the invention; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of the expanded metal lath.

Reference to these views will now be made by use of like characters which are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout.

In Figure 1 is illustrated a wall or ceiling constructed of wall plaster or com sition boards 1 between which are formed ongitudinal joints 2 and vertical staggered joints 3. These joints are preferably covered with reen'forcin material such as woven fabric or expande metal lath as illustrated in the patents already mentioned.

These reenforcing members are preferably three inches by four feet for the longitudinal joints, and sections of this size are cut into smaller lengths for the vertical joints. The long sections however are cut, in present practice, from standard sheets twenty-seven inches long and ninety-six inches wide. Even 100 if the original standard sheet has a finish edge all around, the majorit of the smaller ee rough and ragged edges. These ragged edges result in inconvenience and injury to the workmen, 105 loss of time in handling and entanglement before assembly on the wall or ceiling as stated above.

In order to overcome these defects I have the reenforcing material manufactured in 110 sections approximately three inches wide and forty-eight inches long with the longitudinal edges thereof finished to remove or eliminate all projecting, sharp or cutting edges or parts. In Figure 2 is illustrated a fragment 4 of such material consisting of expanded metal lath. The width is suitable for application to the joint, preferably three inches, and the longitudinal edges 5 and frequently also the end edges 6 are treated or finished as above mentioned in order to present no rough or cutting formations and to be susceptible to easy and rapid handling without danger. The smaller strips 7 for the vertical joints 3 are cut from the longer sections, maintaining the same width, in order to have at least the longitudinal edges of a smooth and tinished character.

From the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that this invention contemplates broadly the production of reenforcing strips of the herein described character having the edges thereof, or at least the longitudinal edges, free from all projections or cutting ed es which make the strips inconvenient to andle and which might result in injury to the workmen. The edges of the strips may be rendered thus unobjectionab-le by finishing or treating the same either during or after manufacture. The character of the material from which the strips are manufactured determines and dictates the manner in which the edges are to be treated or finisdhed in order to eliminate ragged or rough e ges.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be understood that various alterations in the details of construction may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as indicatedby the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A reenforcing reticulated strip of a size suitable for application to a joint between composition boards, said strip having undulating edges.

2. A reenforcin reticulated strip of asize suitable for application to a joint between com osition boards, said strip having finishes edges.

3. A reenforcing reticulated strip of a size suitable for application to a joint between plaster boards, said strip having its longitudinal edges finished to remove cutting parts.

4. In a wall structure, composition boards having confronting edges, reenforeing strips of reticulated material applied over said edges, said strips having their longitudinal edges treated to remove cutting parts.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CURRY ORA WALPER. 

